Had the late Senator Frank Lautenberg lived to complete his term, Geraldo Rivera might have been the Republican nominee to be New Jersey’s junior member of the United States Senate. Cory Booker would still be mayor of Newark and the two celebrities would have been engaged now in an expensive high profile race with national implications.

In early 2013, Rivera was very publicly exploring the possibility of running for Launtenberg’s seat. Booker had just declined to challenge Governor Chris Christie’s reelection bid and announced that he would run for Lautenberg’s seat. Booker’s announcement came before the ailing Lautenberg’s announcement that he would not seek another term.

Lautenberg’s June 2013 death and Christie’s call for an October Special Election to fill the seat scuttled the plans of the television and radio personality/journalist to enter politics on a national level. He was not able to rearrange his life or gain support of his family in the short time required to compete in an August GOP primary.

What might have been a high profile exciting battle between Rivera and Booker this fall is now reduced to bragging rights as to which man will raise more money for his respective Party in Monmouth County. Monmouth County Republican Chairman Shaun Golden will announce this afternoon that Rivera is the keynote speaker at the GOP Fundraising Gala on October 15 at the Navesink Country Club. Rivera’s office and Golden both confirmed that Geraldo is coming.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6th dist) will meet with New Brunswick Middle School students Thursday morning to observe the federally-funded “Breakfast After the Bell” program in action. “Breakfast After the Bell” provides a…

Save Jersey has called the contentious Republican primary in the third Congressional District for former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur.

In a contest of carpetbaggers to replace retiring Congressman Jon Runyan in the House of Representatives, MacArthur beat former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan handedly.

With 70% of the votes counted in the Burlington County portion of the district and 63% counted in Ocean County, MacArthur is leading with 63% of the vote.

MacArthur will face off against Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard in November. Belgard trounced Howard Kleinhendler of Lakewood with almost 80% of the vote. Kleinhendler was the Democratic nominee against Congressman Chris Smith in the 4th district in 2010.

Congressman Frank Pallone’s (NJ-6, Monmouth and Middlesex) once formidable campaign war chest of roughly $4 million is down to less than $1 million according his latest report to the Federal Election Commission.

New Jersey’s senior Democratic congressman, Pallone spent $3,778,155 in the Special U.S. Senate Primary last summer in his bid to replace the late Senator Frank Lautenberg. He lost that primary to then Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Pallone reported $938,472 cash on hand in his congressional campaign account as of March 31, 2014. He raised $200,449.64 in the first quarter of this year and disbursed #338,450.67. $60, 645 remains in his senate campaign account.

The $938,472 that Pallone reports on hand may be inflated by illegal contributions. A cursory examination of his most recent quarterly report reveals $14,200 in contributions from individuals during the current election cycle that exceed the legal limit of $2600 per election.

In the race to replace Congressman Jon Runyan as the GOP nominee in the 3rd congressional district (Ocean and Burlington counties) former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan is doing what anyone who has observed New Jersey politics for the last twenty years expected he would do. He’s attacking his opponent, former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur, as a tax and spend RINO who paid for the GOP establishment support. In the race between carpetbaggers, Lonegan is attacking MacArthur for be a worse carpetbagger.

MacArthur has the support of the Burlington and Ocean GOP machines. Lonegan, who beat Cory Booker in the district in last October’s special U.S. Senate election, has superior name recognition, a PolitickerNJ commissioned poll that gives him a huge lead, and his trademark attention getting rhetoric.

MacArthur counter-attacked Lonegan in a Open Letter last week by calling him desperate, negative, angry, caustic and creepy. All the things Lonegan’s supporters love about the guy.

MacArthur took particular umbrage to the fact that a Lonegan supporter did some opposition research by visiting the facebook page of MacArthur’s 16 year-old daughter and blogged anonymously about it.

Moreover, I am appalled that you are promoting an anonymous internet blog by a person or organization who has clearly spent a considerable amount of time spying on my 16-year old daughter’s Facebook page in search of an issue to use against her father in a political campaign.

Frankly, Steve, it’s creepy.

What salacious dirt did Lonegan’s blogger dig up on MacArthur’s daughter on facebook? She lists herself as a student at Randolph High School which is 90 miles away from the 3rd district.

CLINTON — Clinton Mayor Janice Kovach continues working on appealing a decision that leaves her off the primary election ballot for Congress. She said today, “I am working with the Board of Elections to do what we need to do” and hopes to know…

Clinton Mayor Janice Kovach’s failure to submit sufficient petition signatures to get on the ballot in CD-7 Democratic primary brought to mind a question I’ve been kicking around for a while. What would be possible of Tea Parties competed in Democratic primaries?

Nationally, there is no question that the Tea Party movement has made a difference in restraining the growth of government since 2010 when the Republican Party took back the House of Representatives. On the plus side, the Tea Party Caucus has restrained the Obama/Pelosi/Reed agenda. On the down side, an argument could be made that if not for 2012 Tea Party victories in the senatorial primaries in Missouri and Indiana the GOP would be two seats closer to controlling the Senate. There would have been less “war on women” fodder for the liberal media and Democratic machine to use in defeating Mitt Romney in the presidential election.

Tea Partiesboast that they stayed home in 2012 rather than voting for Romney, thereby assuring Obama’s reelection. There are some Tea Parties campaigning for conservatives to withhold their votes in 2016 if the GOP does not nominate a candidate that meets their approval.

Tea Parties have had some success in Republican primaries that have resulted in losses of “safe” Republican seats in general elections. Delaware in 2010, and Missouri and Indiana in 2012. If Tea Party conservatives really don’t vote in general elections rather than choosing between “the lesser of two evils,” the are assuring the the greater of two evils wins.

Why not take the battle to the Democrats? Why fight only with “RINOs” and then surrender the general elections to the Democrats?